CHARLESTON, W.VA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - West Virginia, Southern), published as received.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man pled guilty to a gun crime, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Harry Lee Nguyen, 23, pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“My office is committed to rooting out violence on Charleston’s west side,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “An important part of our strategy is enforcing federal firearms laws and keeping guns out of the wrong hands. Nguyen is prohibited from possessing guns because of his two prior felony convictions.”
Nguyen admitted that in the early morning of August 3, 2019 he was walking on the west side of Charleston with another individual. When police attempted to stop Nguyen, he threw a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun into the yard of a nearby house. The police immediately detained Nguyen and found the firearm.
Nguyen was convicted on February 1, 2016, in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia of Wanton Endangerment Involving a Firearm. He was also convicted on May 1, 2017, in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia of Unlawful Wounding.
Nguyen faces up to ten years in prison when sentenced on April 29, 2020.
The Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Stefan Hasselblad is handling the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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